DEP hears West Rockhill residents' concerns on water contamination

Kyle Bagenstose @KyleBagenstose

Wednesday

Jul 11, 2018 at 10:00 PMJul 11, 2018 at 10:24 PM

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has a plan for Rockhill area residents affected by drinking water contamination. And those residents had more than a few thoughts about the plan during a public hearing held by the DEP at the West Rockhill Township building Wednesday night.

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has a plan for Rockhill area residents affected by drinking water contamination. And those residents had more than a few thoughts about the plan during a public hearing held by the DEP at the West Rockhill Township building Wednesday night.

"It's just insufficient," said Gerry Moyer, a Tabor Road resident. Last year, Moyer's well was one of 12 in the area found to be contaminated by perfluorinated chemicals above a safety level put forth by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Moyer was joined by about 50 other attendees at the meeting, which was an opportunity for residents to officially comment on a plan the DEP released this spring. The department plans to spend $96,000 to install carbon filtration systems on affected homes and maintain them for one year.

The DEP chose that option over two others: continuing to provide bottled water to the homes or hooking all private well owners in the area up to the closest public water system, which it estimated would cost about $5 million.

Ragesh Patel, a program manager for environmental cleanup with the DEP, said the public water option was not cost effective and that his budget was capped at $2 million. The high cost of the public water alternative is due to the DEP's preference for connecting not only the twelve homes to public water, but about 140 more homes spread miles apart across the border of East and West Rockhill townships. Only putting the 12 highly contaminated wells on the public system could cause the chemicals to shift to other locations and contaminate other wells, Patel argued.

"We need to be inclusive of all the people at this point," he said.

That didn't sit well with several residents who would receive the carbon filters. Several expressed concerns about the ongoing cost of maintaining the filtration systems after one year, which the DEP estimates at about $1,350 every three to five years. The filters would also require the homeowner to put a covenant on their deeds notifying potential buyers of the contamination and the need to continue using the filters.

"How about the cost of what we just lost on our homes, and the real estate value?" asked Angela Goodwin, Moyer's next door neighbor.

Residents also expressed concerns with potential health effects from their prior exposure to the chemicals.

"The cost analysis is extremely faulty and emphasizes DEP resources, and how much DEP has to pay," said resident Jim Pascale. "These are good people, let them have their (public) water system."

David Watt, chairman of the Perkasie Regional Water Authority, requested the DEP meet with the authority to discuss potential solutions. He said he was confident the authority could work with the DEP to extend public water mains to the twelve affected homes for less than $2 million.

Tracy Carluccio, deputy director of the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, a Bristol Borough-based environmental nonprofit, added she believed the DEP's analysis was wrong to base contamination off the EPA's 70-parts-per-trillion limit (ppt) for PFOS and PFOA, the two perfluorinated compounds found in area drinking water. She pointed to New Jersey's proposed 7 and 11 ppt proposals for the chemicals.

"We think using the (EPA level) can actually mask the contamination that exists," Carluccio said. "Even minuscule concentrations can have adverse health impacts."

DEP officials said the comments will go on the record as part of a 90-day public comment period on the carbon filtration plan, which closes Aug. 31. Those interested in making a comment before the deadline can do so by emailing lharper@pa.gov or by writing the DEP's regional offices at 2 E. Main St., Norristown, 19401. The department could modify its proposal based on the comments, and must at least respond to the concerns, officials said.

During an informal part of the meeting, DEP officials also gave a brief update on the department's investigation of the contamination and its next steps. Virginia Cain, community relations coordinator for the DEP, said staff could not comment on their ongoing investigation into the source of the chemicals or potentially responsible entities. The DEP is looking into a 1986 tire fire at a nearby Bergey's Tire and Auto location on Old Bethlehem Pike as a cause, and many residents have also expressed suspicions about the fire.

David Budnick, chief financial officer at Bergey’s, previously wrote in an email the company "has no knowledge of the cause of the local contamination."

"To our knowledge, we have done nothing to cause the contamination," Budnick added.

Officials said the DEP plans to install several groundwater monitoring wells in the area within a year to inform their investigation and gain a better picture about the location and extent of the chemical plume in groundwater.

Several speakers also expressed an interest in having blood tests for area residents. Cain said such tests are "not under our jurisdiction or our authority," and said such a program would have to come from a state or federal health agency.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.